NOTEBOOK

Neocon 2024

NEOCON
June 2024

Another great Neocon. This year Charles arrived a day earlier than usual and ventured out further into the city than we have before. Right when you think you know Chicago, it just keeps delivering new and exciting places. On Saturday he walked the length of the Magnificent Mile, into Lincoln Park, along the Concrete Beach, Lunch at the Shore Club, through the Zoo, and to the Calder Lilly Pool. Such an incredibly beautiful area. On Sunday Charles sat on the Riverwalk and sketched the iconic DuSable Bridge, one of 37 moveable bridges crossing the river.

The show was as exciting as ever, with fresh takes on lots of expected trends, along with some unexpected ones, like retro-grandma floral prints. The “resimercial” trend toward a more residential feeling office of course continues, with the goal of luring employees back to the office rather than forcing them back. Employees are much more likely to want to come to the office when provided with all the comforts of home, while also giving them things they cannot have at home, such as large meeting spaces, impressive client-appropriate spaces, live human interaction, technology (for hoteling, room reservations, video conferencing, zoom rooms, phone booths, mobile zoom boards, etc. ), elaborate coffee bars, privacy screening, integrated lighting, sofas, and just generally cool spaces. One of the nice things about Neocon is watching the trends you see all year playing out right before your eyes in the showrooms. Here are examples of all of the above:

Privacy: Lots of slat walls, phone booths, screens, sound-attenuating felts and fabric panels.
Retro resimercial: Every showroom had upholstered seating in retro grandma floral prints. Will this continue next year I wonder?
Awesome spaces: Showrooms and manufacturers, especially with the addition of the Fulton area, are competing over who has the coolest space, showroom, who is in the coolest lobby, and just really pulling out all the stops.
Mobile work: In the office we are seeing movable storage units, lockers, touch-down seating, library-like shared work tables (complete with built-in power and lighting), room reserve systems, and lots of technology.

Any other trends you recognized?

CRATE Turns 2
April 2024

I can’t believe it’s been 2 years already! On April 25th we had a party at The Smyth Rooftop in Stamford to mark the occasion. Thank you to all the family, friends, clients, colleagues, and everyone who helped us celebrate this special moment. We are looking forward the future to many more years to come.

CRATE Goes to Quebec
Oct. 10-13, 2023

CRATE was graciously invited by Teknion and SWC to attend their coveted immersive “Experience Teknion” trip to Quebec. It was an incredible three days of sightseeing, furniture, and food. The beauty of the city was only outdone by the hospitality of our hosts.

DAY 1:

Our hotel was adorable, with artifacts from its industrial past adorning locations throughout the hotel. We visited the modern Musee National Des Beaux Arts Du Quebec and walked back to the hotel for our first glimpse of this beautiful city. Then on to dinner at Le Sam in the iconic Le Château Frontenac on top of the hill.

DAY 2:

Following the best bowl of coffee I’ve ever had, it was off to Teknion | Roy & Breton for a tour of their offices, showroom, and some behind-the-scenes glimpses into future products… a designer’s dream. The most exciting and unique part of the whole experience was the “Challenge What’s Possible” competition where we were broken into two teams and each designed their own original piece of furniture. Teknion’s team then actually produced the piece of furniture overnight for a reveal and friendly competition the NEXT day. Dinner at Chez Boulay, then out for drinks, including a few brave souls who partook in Caribou Shots, which is warm port red wine, rye whiskey, maple syrup, and cinnamon. Yikes!

DAY 3:

After another bowl of coffee, we headed to the glass factory where we learned about the manufacturing of the walls we use on so many of our projects. It was interesting to see all that goes into the production, and we even got to break some glass!!! Then it was back to the Teknion HQ for the big reveal of the “Challenge What’s Possible” furniture designs. I really couldn’t believe that they were able to produce a unique, original piece of furniture that had only been conceived of the afternoon before, but there they were: fully functioning, installed pieces in the color and finish selected. It was very impressive. See the pics below. Then there was more sightseeing (did I mention it’s a beautiful city?), dinner at Le Continental (not the one from John Wick), and back home the next day.

Upon returning home, I painted scenes of Quebec on the back of coasters from our hotel as thank you cards for a personalized touch. See pics below.

It was an incredible trip and we are very grateful for the opportunity to participate.

Neocon 2023
June 2023

Once again, an amazing time was had in Chicago this year. We saw designs by Frank Gehry and Frank Lloyd Wright, the largest Tiffany stained glass dome at the Chicago Cultural Center, and of course The Bean in Millennium Park. There were rooftop bars and basement bars, both equally enjoyable, but for different reasons. We ate at my favorite restaurant anywhere, The Girl and the Goat, but also enjoyed a deep-dish pizza at Lou Malnoti’s. Oh, we also attended the furniture show. Some trends we saw:

Every manufacturer had their take on phone booths, melding the pre-pandemic trend of open office with the new need to have a quiet space for zoom meetings.
Continuing and furthering the “resimercial” trend toward a more residential feeling office, which has been accelerated by employers trying to lure employees back to the office by providing them with all the comforts of home, while also giving them things they cannot have at home such as large meeting spaces, impressive client-appropriate spaces, live human interaction, technology, elaborate coffee bars, etc. We are heavily incorporating this trend into all of our designs.
A “Cool” factor: Several manufacturers have moved their showrooms out of the Merchandise Mart and into the Fulton neighborhood of Chicago. This area has been built up out a formerly industrial area and has an incredibly cool “Brookly of Chicago” vibe. We also loved that one carpet manufacturer picked up on the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop and partnered with @thehiphoparchitect on a new line.

Chicago is an incredible city with its own personality, architecture, culture, and an amazing food scene. We love going back every year to enjoy this incredible event. It’s so inspiring to see designers from across the country sharing ideas and seeing all the latest trends in order to bring them back to their clients around the globe. We are already looking forward to next year.